Shloka 69
Adhyāya 31: Rājasūya-samāgama — The Gathering of Kings and the Ordering of Hospitality
तिमिड्लिलं च स नृपं वशे कृत्वा महामति: । एकपादांश्व पुरुषान् केरलान् वनवासिन:
timiṅgilaṃ ca sa nṛpaṃ vaśe kṛtvā mahāmatiḥ | ekapādāṃś ca puruṣān keralān vanavāsinaḥ | samūce kolagiriṃ surabhīpaṭṭanaṃ tāgradvīpaṃ rāmakaparvataṃ tathā | sañjayantīṃ ca nagarīṃ pākhaṇḍaṃ ca karahāṭakaṃ ca dūtair eva sandiśya vaśam ānīya tebhyaś ca karaṃ jagrāha |
Sahadeva, a man of great intelligence, first brought the king named Timiṅgila under his control. He then, by sending envoys and messages rather than by direct battle, caused various peoples and regions—such as the one-footed men, the Keralas, forest-dwellers, the city of Sañjayantī, and the lands of Pākhaṇḍa and Karahāṭaka—to accept his overlordship, and he collected tribute from them.
सहदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights rajadharma in practice: a capable ruler extends authority through prudent diplomacy (envoys and messages) and establishes orderly revenue (tribute), implying that political control is ideally regularized and minimally violent.
During Sahadeva’s campaign connected with Yudhiṣṭhira’s imperial project, he subdues a king named Timiṅgila and brings multiple peoples and regions under control largely through envoys, then collects tribute from them.